Biden: Dodd is 'getting the living hell beat out of him'.

Washington (CNN) – Joe Biden praised Sen. Chris Dodd Friday, but conceded his good friend - one of the Senate's most vulnerable Democrats - is "getting the living hell beat of him."

The vice president made his comments at a fundraiser for Dodd Friday in Hartford, Connecticut. Dodd had been scheduled to accompany Biden at the fundraiser and at event earlier in the day to announce nearly $4 million in federal stimulus funding to replace an aging fire station in East Hartford, but stayed in the nation's capital to work on health care reform legislation and other Senate business.

The five-term senator, who's up for re-election next year and fighting for his political life, was replaced by wife Jackie Clegg Dodd.

The vice president heaped compliments on his fellow Democrat, calling him "the single most gifted legislator in Congress, now that Teddy Kennedy's gone."

Biden spoke of Dodd's dual roles for much of this year leading both the Senate Banking and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees at a time when financial reform and health care reform are among the most pressing matters facing Congress.

"Chris Dodd is the first United States senator that has simultaneously chaired two major committees in a moment of genuine national crisis," Biden said. "And had he got either of those jobs wrong, the consequences for America would be dire....

"Chris is getting the living hell beat out of him, the living bejesus beat out of him," said Biden. "Why? Because he's being a leader. This is going to be a hell of a race and it's an uphill race, but Chris Dodd will prevail."

In a sign of Dodd's sinking political fortunes, the Cook Political Report this week moved his race from "toss up" to "lean Republican."

Dodd saw his approval ratings plunge late last year and early this year, following last year's Wall Street and banking industry financial meltdown, Dodd's involvement in the AIG bonus controversy, and questions about mortgages he obtained from a VIP program.

Dodd's poll numbers inched up during the spring and summer after bottoming out earlier this year. But his approval rating slipped back again in a Quinnipiac University survey released last month. The poll also indicated that by 53 percent to 39 percent, Connecticut voters don't think Dodd deserves to be re-elected next year. According to the survey, Dodd is trailing his two potential Republican challengers in hypothetical 2010 general election matchups.

–Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

Biden: Dodd is 'getting the living hell beat out of him'.

Washington (CNN) – Joe Biden praised Sen. Chris Dodd Friday, but conceded his good friend - one of the Senate's most vulnerable Democrats - is "getting the living hell beat of him."

The vice president made his comments at a fundraiser for Dodd Friday in Hartford, Connecticut. Dodd had been scheduled to accompany Biden at the fundraiser and at event earlier in the day to announce nearly $4 million in federal stimulus funding to replace an aging fire station in East Hartford, but stayed in the nation's capital to work on health care reform legislation and other Senate business.

The five-term senator, who's up for re-election next year and fighting for his political life, was replaced by wife Jackie Clegg Dodd.

The vice president heaped compliments on his fellow Democrat, calling him "the single most gifted legislator in Congress, now that Teddy Kennedy's gone."

Biden spoke of Dodd's dual roles for much of this year leading both the Senate Banking and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees at a time when financial reform and health care reform are among the most pressing matters facing Congress.

"Chris Dodd is the first United States senator that has simultaneously chaired two major committees in a moment of genuine national crisis," Biden said. "And had he got either of those jobs wrong, the consequences for America would be dire....

"Chris is getting the living hell beat out of him, the living bejesus beat out of him," said Biden. "Why? Because he's being a leader. This is going to be a hell of a race and it's an uphill race, but Chris Dodd will prevail."

In a sign of Dodd's sinking political fortunes, the Cook Political Report this week moved his race from "toss up" to "lean Republican."

Dodd saw his approval ratings plunge late last year and early this year, following last year's Wall Street and banking industry financial meltdown, Dodd's involvement in the AIG bonus controversy, and questions about mortgages he obtained from a VIP program.

Dodd's poll numbers inched up during the spring and summer after bottoming out earlier this year. But his approval rating slipped back again in a Quinnipiac University survey released last month. The poll also indicated that by 53 percent to 39 percent, Connecticut voters don't think Dodd deserves to be re-elected next year. According to the survey, Dodd is trailing his two potential Republican challengers in hypothetical 2010 general election matchups.

–Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

Dodd faces a tough 2010 re-election fight.

Washington (CNN) – Joe Biden heads to Connecticut Friday to help out one of the Senate's most vulnerable Democrats.

The vice president is teaming up with Sen. Chris Dodd in East Hartford, Connecticut to announce nearly $4 million in federal stimulus funding to replace an aging fire station. Later in the day, Biden is scheduled to join Dodd at a private fundraiser in Hartford for the embattled five-term senator, who's up for re-election and fighting for his political life.

The Senate Banking Committee chairman saw his approval ratings plunge late last year and early this year, following last year's Wall Street and banking industry financial meltdown, Dodd's involvement in the AIG bonus controversy, and following questions about mortgages he obtained from a VIP program.

Dodd's poll numbers inched up during the spring and summer after bottoming out earlier this year. But his approval rating slipped back again in a Quinnipiac University survey released last month. The poll also indicated that by 53 percent to 39 percent, Connecticut voters don't think Dodd deserves to be re-elected next year. According to the survey, Dodd is trailing his two potential Republican challengers in hypothetical 2010 general election matchups.

(Updated with new Dodd developments after the jump)

In a sign of Dodd's sinking political fortunes, the Cook Political Report this week moved his race from "toss up" to "lean Republican."

This will be the third recent high-profile visit for Dodd. The vice president and the senator in Connecticut appeared together at a stimulus event in early October. Later that month, President Barack Obama visited the state to headline a Dodd fundraiser.

It seems that right now, Chris Dodd's become the posterboy for incumbents in trouble.

"Dodd's in bad shape. He needs to put the focus on the eventual GOP nominee. He needs voters to reassess him and what he's done for Connecticut," says Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report. "He needs voters to feel good. If their overall mood is deeply sour, they are going to listen to messages of change. If there's a general uptick in mood, that will help Dodd."

UPDATE: Dodd's staying on Capitol Hill Friday. In a press statement, the vice president's office says that due to the possibility of votes on the Senate floor, "Senator Dodd will be unable to join Vice President Biden in Connecticut. The Senator's wife, Jackie Clegg Dodd, will make brief remarks at each event."

–Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

Vice President Joe Biden is downplaying news the government Web site Recovery.gov reported hundreds of millions of stimulus dollars spent on projects in congressional districts that in fact do not actually exist.

(CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden is downplaying news the government Web site Recovery.gov reported hundreds of millions of stimulus dollars spent on projects in congressional districts that in fact do not actually exist.

The districts don't exist, but the projects do, Biden said Tuesday night.

And the administration isn't to blame - the fault lies with the nation's educational system.

In an appearance on The Daily Show, Biden said the errors - first reported by ABC News - do not indicate unaccounted-for spending but are rather the result of 70 people who are the product of "bad civics classes."

"Every single solitary penny that got sent out there to a state, a construction company, a nonprofit had to be accounted for," Biden told host Jon Stewart. "And it all got put on Recovery.gov. What happened was, out of 130,000 people reporting in what they did with the money…70 did not know how to count."

"There was bad civics classes for those 70 people," Biden continued. "They had to fill out a form, what district are you in, and there was no such district."

Biden said checkers are now going through the reports to determine the actual districts where the money was spent.

Biden will become the first VP on to appear on The Daily Show Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – It could be an historic day for Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden heads to New York City late Tuesday afternoon and will appear on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." That's nothing new for Biden, who's appeared on the program as a guest five times over the past few years.

But this will be Biden's first time on the show since his inauguration as vice president in January. And apparently it will be the first time any sitting vice president will appear as a guest on the program.

– CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

TOPICS: Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden

Full results (pdf)

(CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden is lending a helping hand to five Western House Democrats who may face competitive re-election races next year.

The vice president attends a political event in Phoenix Monday for Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick and Harry Mitchell. Kirkpatrick, a freshman, won her seat in Arizona's 1st congressional district by 17 points. Mitchell, a two-term representative, won re-election last year by 9 points. Both the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report and Cook Political Report are keeping their eyes on both races.

Later Monday, Biden attends an event in Albuquerque, New Mexico for Reps. Harry Teague and Martin Heinrich. Republicans are gunning to win back Teague's seat, in New Mexico's 2nd congressional district. Teague, a freshman, won the district by 12 points last year. Both the Rothenberg and Cook Political Reports consider the race a tossup. Heinrich is also a freshman who won his race in 2008 by 12 points.

On Sunday, the vice president was the main attraction in Las Vegas at a fundraiser for freshman Rep. Dina Titus. Last year, Titus won Nevada's 3rd congressional district in a three-way contest, grabbing 47 percent of the vote. She could face a tough re-election next year.

According to a pool report of the event, Biden said he had campaigned in 54 House districts this year. The vice president added that with Titus' help, "we're going to be riding into, not a sunset, but a sunshine."

The Connecticut Democratic Party announced Monday that Biden will join Sen. Chris Dodd for a fundraising event in Hartford on Friday, December 11. The five-term senator is up for re-election next year and is fighting for his political life.

A Quinnipiac University survey released Thursday morning suggests that 54 percent of Connecticut voters disapprove of the job Dodd's doing as their senior U.S. senator, with 4 in 10 giving him a thumbs-up. The 54 percent disapproval rating is up 5 points from September. The poll also indicates that by 53 percent to 39 percent, Connecticut voters don't think Dodd deserves to be re-elected next year. According to the survey, Dodd is losing or tied with all of his potential Republican challengers in hypothetical 2010 general election matchups.

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

ice President Joe Biden heads to Michigan Monday to lend a helping hand to two freshman House Democrats.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden heads to Michigan Monday to lend a helping hand to two freshman House Democrats who could face tough re-election bids next year. Will their votes on health care reform makes those bids even more difficult?

Biden headlines a fundraising event in Detroit for Michigan Democratic Party. Co-hosting the event are Congressmen Mark Schauer and Gary Peters. Both representatives voted in favor the health care reform bill that passed 220-215 in the House Saturday night.

The National Republican Campaign Committee is targeting the health care votes by Schauer and Peters.

"While Vice President Biden throws a lavish fundraiser to reward Mark Schauer and Gary Peters for their votes on the trillion dollar government takeover of healthcare, more than fifteen percent of Michiganders are out on the street looking for work," says NRCC spokesman Tom Erickson in a Monday morning statement. "If we're going to put Michigan back to work, voters will need to elect new leadership and fire Schauer and Peters, who have continually backed the reckless policies of Nancy Pelosi that create more government at the expense of the jobs that Michigan needs."

Democrats said the votes should give Schauer and Peters an edge next year.

"Mark Schauer and Gary Peters both have strong records of delivering for their districts and helping to create jobs in order to turn Michigan's economy around, responds Gabby Adler, Midwest Regional Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "Voters in Michigan know that Health Insurance Reform is a key component of a long term economic recovery for Michigan workers and businesses of all sizes, and encouraged Schauer and Peters to support the legislation. Mark Schauer and Gary Peters have an undeniable advantage heading into 2010 because of their already significant legislative achievements and because of their prolific fundraising that no GOP candidate in Michigan has even come close to."

Schauer ousted Republican Rep. Tim Walberg in last year's election, winning by by 3 points in Michigan's 7th congressional district, which Barack Obama won by 5 points. He could be facing a rematch in 2010, as Walberg has already announced his candidacy - if he makes it past what could be a tough primary battle. Both the non-partisan Cook Political Report and the Rothenberg Political Report say the district's contest is likely to be competitive next year.

Peters topped Republican Rep. Joe Knollenberg by 9 points in last year's election in the 9th congressional district, which Obama won by 7 points.

"The health care vote is another piece of ammunition that Republicans will use against Schauer and Peters," says Nathan Gonzalez, political editor of the Rothenberg Political Report. "I think Republicans are more optimistic about Schauer. It's more of a Republican district.

Republicans have always seen an opportunity in the 7th and this health care vote adds to their optimism. This is going to be a top race next year."

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

Biden stumped for Owens Monday.

(CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden challenged Republican voters in New York's 23rd congressional district to teach conservative "absolutists" a lesson in the special House election Tuesday by voting for the Democratic candidate in the race.

"We aren't asking you to switch your party," Biden said at a rally for Democrat Bill Owens in Watertown, New York Monday morning. "We are just saying join us in teaching a lesson to those absolutists who say no dissent is permitted within your own party."

The comments come a day after Republican Dede Scozzafava, who withdrew from the race Saturday amid heavy pressure from conservatives - endorsed Owens. Many high-profile Republicans, including Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and Dick Armey, have already thrown their own support behind third-party conservative candidate Doug Hoffman.

Related: Scozzafava campaigns for Owens

In his remarks at the rally for Owens, Biden elicited boos from the crowd when he mentioned Palin, Limbaugh and Armey.

"The idea that Rush Limbaugh would handpick [the] successor is kind of unusual," Biden said of the popular conservative radio host who has heavily backed Hoffman over the national party's choice of Scozzafava.

"I would have thought the last person I would bring up to the North Country is Dick Armey," Biden continued, pointing to the former Texas congressman and current chairman of the conservative group FreedomWorks. "He's a decent guy, but he represents a view so alien it seems to me to the pragmatism to the North Country. Sarah Palin, a former governor - her views are real and consistent with Armey's and Limbaugh's and Dick Cheney's."

"This is a different ideology," Biden continued. "This is different than anything I've known in my 45 years of being familiar with this district. You know, they may not have any room for moderate views in the Republican Party upstate anymore, but let me assure you, we have room, we have room."

Later in his remarks, the vice president couldn't help but return to the subject of the former Alaska governor when the issue of energy came up.

"Sarah Palin thinks the answer to energy is 'Drill, baby, drill,' he said, leaning into the microphone. "It's a lot more complicated, Sarah, than drill baby drill."

A just-released Siena College poll suggests Hoffman holds a 5-point lead over Owens, while 18 percent of likely remain undecided.

Update: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin fired back at Biden Monday. "As the vice president knows, I have always advocated an all-of-the-above approach to American energy independence," Palin wrote in a note on her Facebook page. "There's one way to tell Vice President Biden that we're tired of folks in Washington distorting our message and hampering our nation's progress: Hoffman, Baby, Hoffman!."

Follow Alex Mooney on Twitter @awmooneycnn

Two political heavyweights are descending on New York's 23rd congressional district Monday,

(CNN) - Two political heavyweights are descending on New York's 23rd congressional district Monday, 24 hours before voters in that closely-watched special House race head to the polls.

Vice President Joe Biden is set to hold a morning rally in Watertown with Democrat Bill Owens at 10 a.m. ET.  Biden's visit comes two days after Republican Dede Scozzafava withdrew from the race - a seeming blow to Owens who had benefited from Sozzafava and conservative third-party candidate Dough Hoffman splitting the opposition vote.

Meanwhile former GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson is also heading to the upstate New York district, holding a campaign event with Hoffman Monday evening.

Thompson, among Hoffman's earliest high-profile backers who was the recent star of a campaign commercial for the independent conservative, said in a statement "Dough is Target No. 1 for the Democrats' political machine, they are desperate to win."

A recent Siena College poll conducted before Socozzafava withdrew from the race suggests Owens and Hoffman were locked in a statistical dead heat, 36-35 percent, with Scozzafava far behind at 20 percent.  Political observers predict more than two-thirds of Scozzafava's supporters are now likely to cast their vote for Hoffman.

Biden also campaigned with Owens in September while President Obama made an appearance at a fundraiser for Owens in New York City earlier this month.

Follow Alex Mooney on Twitter @awmooneycnn

Biden says he's not too interested in what Dick Cheney has to say.

Washington (CNN) – Vice President Biden on Friday fired back at criticism from his predecessor, former Vice President Cheney, that President Obama is "dithering" over his decision about whether to send up to 40,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

"I like Dick Cheney personally but I really don't care what Dick Cheney thinks and I'm not sure a lot of Americans do," Biden said in an exclusive interview with CNN. "Look at the policy they left us, look at the policy of neglect they left us in Afghanistan, look at the policy we inherited in terms of their foreign policy...I think the President is doing exactly what any president should do."

October has turned out to be the deadliest month of the war so far, and Biden said the president needs the appropriate time to get the strategy right. He said the situation on the ground has changed because the Taliban is "taking advantage of a chaotic election process that took place in Afghanistan."

Biden added, "Any thoughtful president should be sitting down saying, 'Okay what is the strategy we have to employ with these changed circumstances?' And then look at the tactic that will best accomplish that. The President has great faith in the military."

(CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden is heading back to New York's 23rd congressional district to campaign for Democrat Bill Owens the day before Tuesday's special election.

With the Republican Party split between party-backed Dede Scozzafava and Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, recent surveys suggests Owens is in the lead – giving Democrats a rare shot at a pickup in this solidly-Republican upstate district.

Owens, who is running to replace Rep. John McHugh, who resigned earlier this year to serve as Obama's Secretary of the Army.

Biden, who also campaigned with Owens in September, will appear in Watertown. Earlier this month, President Obama made an appearance at a fundraiser for Owens in New York City.

–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

WASHINGTON (CNN) – In an exclusive interview with CNN, Vice President Joe Biden said Friday he believes the economy has "hit bottom" and he's confident the stimulus package is helping to put the economy back on track.

"Oh I'm confident we've hit bottom," Biden said. "The question is look, we're not going to be satisfied, Ed, until I'm able to sit in front of you and say, 'Look, this month we grew jobs.'"

The vice president acknowledged that with unemployment at 9.8 percent across the country right now, it is hard to convince the American people the nation is coming of out of recession. Biden made his comments on a day in which he released a new report claiming the stimulus has created or saved somewhere between 640,000 and one million jobs.

"The net effect is growing jobs," said Biden, though he quickly acknowledged: "It doesn't say a lot to people to say, 'You know there would have been a million more ... jobs lost but for this [stimulus]. My grandpop used to have an expression... We lived in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

He said when the guy in Dixon City, a suburb, is out of work it's an economic slowdown. When your brother-in-law's out of work, it's a recession. When you're out of work, it's a depression. And it's a depression for millions of people."

Biden added there's a "necessary disconnect when people are out of a job," but he asserted that the recent report showing that the Gross Domestic Product has grown 3.5 percent in the last three months shows the recovery plan is working.

"Every expert out there has said... - and you know this - is that in a large part is attributable to the stimulus package," said Biden. "Put another way, without the stimulus package, the economy wouldn't have grown this last quarter."

Biden told a Pennsylvania crowd he only said yes to being vice president months after it was first offered.

(CNN) - It was an oft-repeated anecdote on the 2008 campaign trail: then-Sen. Joe Biden accepted the request to be the No. 2 on the Democratic presidential ticket at a Delaware dentist office as his wife was undergoing a root canal.

Less discussed however was how Biden first said no to the post when then-Sen. Obama raised the subject months before the final announcement was made.

"I initially said no, that I wasn't interested," Biden told a Pennsylvania crowd Monday night at the annual Allegheny County Democratic Committee dinner. "He asked me to think about it."

Biden said he finally accepted the job "a couple months later" not in a dentist office but in a hotel room in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The vice president said he asked the then-Democratic presidential nominee, "Are you really committed to changing the course of this county?"

"He reached out, shook my hand, and said 'I am,'" Biden said.

Of course, according to Biden's wife Jill, the vice president actually had a choice between the No. 2 post and being the Secretary of State.

During an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show last January, Mrs. Biden accidentally let slip that piece of information - though the vice president's office later took issue with that contention.

"To be clear, President-elect Obama offered Vice President-elect Biden one job only – to be his running mate," Elizabeth Alexander, a spokeswoman for Biden, said then. "And the vice president-elect was thrilled to accept the offer."

Biden is set to tout the stimulus package Wednesday.

(CNN) – Joe Biden heads to Missouri Thursday to tout federal stimulus money and to help Robin Carnahan's senate campaign raise money.

The vice president teams up with Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon at the St. Louis County Police and Fire Training Center to to discuss how Recovery Act investments are creating jobs and aiding law enforcement in keeping our communities safe," according to a statement from the White House.

Following the stimulus event, Biden helps out another fellow Democrat, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, who's running for the senate. The vice president headlines a fundraiser for Carnahan at a private residence in St. Louis. Carnahan's campaign says they raked in over $1 million in the third quarter, slightly behind the amount of money raised by the likely Republican nominee in next year's race, former House Minority Whip Roy Blunt.

The senate battle, between two leading political families in Missouri, is for an open seat, as incumbent Republican Kit Bond is not running for re-election. A recent poll of Missouri voters suggested the race was quite close.

Thursday night Biden heads to Minnesota to help raise money for the Democratic National Committee. Friday the vice president Biden helps bring in campaign cash for another Democrat facing a tough election next year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Obama and Vice President Biden both called Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus to congratulate him on committee passage of a health care bill, according to Finance Committee spokesman Scott Mulhauser.

Biden will continue Deeds campaign .

WASHINGTON (CNN)–Vice President Joe Biden vows to continue campaigning for Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds.

"I hope to god you understand this race is winnable," Biden said Thursday at a fundraiser for Deeds in Alexandria, Virginia.

A new Washington Post poll suggests Deeds trails Republican candidate Bob McDonnell, the state's former attorney general, by nine points. Biden also made reference to New Jersey Gov. John Corzine, who is facing a tough bid for re-election, saying,"they declared him dead two weeks ago. He is now ahead."

The most recent polls in New Jersey indicate that Corzine is basically tied with Republican challenger Chris Christie, a former federal prosecutor.

Joe Biden is lending a hand to Creigh Deeds Thursday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Joe Biden heads across the Potomac River Thursday to help out a fellow Democrat.

The Vice President teams up with Creigh Deeds, the Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia, at a fundraiser in Alexandria. Recent polls suggest that Deeds, a state senator, trails the Republican candidate, former Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell, from 4 to 9 points. Virginia's current governor, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine, is term limited and can't seek a second term.

Biden was in New Jersey Wednesday, the only other state holding a gubernatorial contest this November. The vice president teamed up at two events with Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, who's fighting for re-election. Recent surveys indicate that Corzine has now pulled even with Republican challenger Chris Christie, the former federal prosecutor in New Jersey.

Biden, who joined Corzine in June when the governor formally kicked off his re-election campaign, said he and President Barack Obama are committed to helping Corzine win a second term.

"It's critically important he be re-elected," said Biden.

While the campaigns in both New Jersey and Virginia concentrate on local issues and the candidates themselves, they're also partially viewed as an early referendum on the Obama presidency. Obama has traveled to both states to campaign personally with the candidates, and is expected to team up with Corzine again in New Jersey later this month.

Wednesday night Biden lended a helping hand to a Rep. Lary Kissell, the Democrat from North Carolina's eigth district who defeated Republican Congressman Robin Hayes last year, and could face a tough re-election next year.

At a fundraiser for Kissell in the District of Columbia, Biden praised the congressman, saying "there's something magical about someone from a textiles background, and who was teaching high school civics a year ago, to be standing up here with the vice president. That's a miracle. That's what makes this country great."

Biden to campaign in New Jersey and Virginia.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The White House is dispatching Vice President Biden to New Jersey and Virginia later this week to campaign for each of the state's Democratic candidates for governor.

Biden will speak alongside Jon Corzine at the New Jersey AFL-CIO 2009 Legislative Conference in Atlantic City on Wednesday at the Borgata Hotel.

The Vice President will then return to the Washington area to raise money for Democrat Creigh Deeds the next day at a private home in Alexandria.

The visits mark the second time this year Biden has lent some administration firepower to the two gubernatorial campaigns - he first appeared with Corzine at a campaign rally in June, and helped Deeds raise money in July.

Joe Biden's heading north Monday to show off some money and to rake in some bucks for fellow Democrats.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Joe Biden's heading north Monday to show off some money and to rake in some bucks for fellow Democrats.

The vice president travels to Connecticut, where he'll team up with Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Jim Himes in Fairfield, to tout how "Recovery Act investments are creating jobs and rebuilding Connecticut's infrastructure," according to a White House press release.

The vice president is expected to praise Dodd and Himes for bringing stimulus money to their state, including millions of dollars for road improvements to the Merritt Parkway.

Dodd is facing a tough bid for re-election next year. Recent polls of Connecticut voters suggest that the five term senator's approval rating is on the rise, but still in negative territory. President Barack Obama headlines a fundraiser for Dodd in Connecticut on October 23.

Before the stimulus event, Biden teams up with Himes for a lunchtime fundraiser. Himes is a freshman representative. He ousted longtime Republican Congressman Chris Shays in last year's election by 3 points in a district Obama won by 20 points.

Later Monday, Biden travels to New York City, where he's the main attraction at a fundraiser for New Hampshire Congressman Paul Hodes, who's running for the senate next yearv

The vice president visited with his son Beau during a visit to Iraq on July 4 of this year.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Beau Biden, the son of Vice President Joe Biden and Delaware's attorney general, has returned from a year-long deployment to Iraq, according to the Delaware National Guard.

Biden's National Guard unit, the 261st Signal Brigade, returned to the United States last Friday and is currently demobilizing at Fort Dix in New Jersey, Delaware National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Leonard Gratteri told CNN.

Vice President Joe Biden is set to address his son's unit at a return ceremony in Dover, Delaware on Wednesday, September 30, said Gratteri.

Ted Kaufman, a former chief of staff to Joe Biden when the vice president was a member of the Senate, was appointed by Delaware's governor to fill
Biden's old Senate seat. Many political observers called the decision to appoint Kaufman an effort to hold the seat for Beau Biden to pursue in a 2010 special election after completing his deployment overseas.

Delaware Rep. Mike Castle, long considered a likely Republican candidate for the vice president's old seat, has not officially announced his intention to enter the race.

The vice president will be the special guest at the Iowa Democratic Party's annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Joe Biden's headed back to Iowa.

Wait - this isn't a flashback to 2007, when then-Sen. Biden was making his own bid for the White House. The vice president will be the special guest at the Iowa Democratic Party's annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner. The event, which is scheduled to take place November 21 in Des Moines, was announced by the Iowa Democratic Party and confirmed by the vice president's office Tuesday.

Next month, Biden will also lend a helping hand to Arlen Specter, the Republican-turned-Democratic senior senator from Pennsylvania, who faces a primary challenge next year from Rep. Joe Sestak.

The vice president's office confirms to CNN that Biden will appear with Specter at two events, a Bucks County Democratic Dinner on October 2 and a Allegheny County Democratic Dinner on October 19.

UPDATE: The Vice President's office confirms that Biden will attend an event for Rep. Paul Hodes - the New Hampshire congressman now running for the Senate - October 5 in New York City.

Biden says some Democrats are 'turkeys.'

(CNN) - Joe Biden has campaigned for a lot of Democrats during his lifetime in politics - including a few who are "turkeys," the vice president joked at a Thursday night fundraiser in Virginia.

Attending the fundraising event on behalf of three Democratic House members from Virginia - Reps. Glenn Nye, Gerry Connolly and Tom Perriello - at the home of former Virginia Sen. Chuck Robb, an off-script Biden suggested competence doesn't stretch across the entire Democratic Party.

"These guys are smart, "Biden said of the three Virginia congressmen. "Some of the guys Chuck [Robb] and I have campaigned for are turkeys. Not all Democrats are created equal, while most Republicans are."

Biden went on to say the candidates are "independent minded" and "damn competent," and all share the party's core principles of health care and energy reform.

Nye and Perriello, hailing from the more conservative regions of the once solidly Republican-voting state, are expected to face especially difficult re-election races.

Gaffe-prone Biden avoids weighing in on Obama verbal slip.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) – The famously free-wheeling Joe Biden found himself in an unaccustomed situation Thursday: asked to comment on a White House gaffe that wasn't his own.

The vice president was asked by CNN what he thought of President Obama's unguarded moment earlier this week, when he was caught calling entertainer Kanye West a "jackass" for grabbing the microphone from teenage singer Taylor Swift at MTV's Video Music Awards earlier in the week.

Biden responded cautiously. "I honestly didn't know that. I have no comment on that," he told CNN's Chris Lawrence, adding with a laugh: "For someone who occasionally says things that I shouldn't say, I have no comment."

How does it feel to be on the observing end of an administration verbal slip? "Well first of all, (Obama) very seldom has a slip of the tongue," said Biden. "But I really can't comment. I truly don't know the incident. I heard it for the first time from you."

Biden is in Iraq this week, his third visit to that nation so far this year.

It's too early to say whether more troops are needed for Afghanistan, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) – It's too early to say whether more troops are needed for Afghanistan, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday, days after the top U.S. military officer said more forces are probably needed in order to effectively fight the insurgency.

"I think that's premature," Biden told CNN's Chris Lawrence in Baghdad, Iraq, while the vice president was on a brief trip there. "The president made a decision back in March setting clearly what our goal was - (it) is to defeat al Qaeda in that region - and made a significant deployment of resources, civilian and military. They're now only getting in place; they're not all fully in place and deployed."

Biden said a reevaluation of resources in Afghanistan should only happen after the result of last month's presidential election in Afghanistan is
cleared up. There are widespread allegations of massive fraud in the August 20 vote.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai secured more than 54 percent of the vote, according to the final uncertified results announced Wednesday. But the results won't be certified until investigations of election irregularities are completed.

The Afghan people must feel they have a legitimate government, because "the prospect of success is in direct proportion to the legitimacy of the government," Biden said. "And I still think that is very possible, but it is not done yet."

Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told U.S. senators this week he wants a "fully resourced counterinsurgency" in
Afghanistan. The Afghan people are waiting on the sidelines to see how committed the United States is, he said.

"A properly resourced counterinsurgency probably means more forces," Mullen said, but how those forces will be composed in terms of combat troops and trainers will be a matter for discussion in the coming weeks.

"I have a sense of urgency about this. I worry a great deal the clock is moving very rapidly," he said.

Biden pointed out there has been no formal request for additional troops in Afghanistan, a decision that can only be made once the election outcome is determined and the present troops are in place.

"There's a lot of discussion going on, there's a lot of hypotheticals being raised by all of us," Biden said. "But as the president said, a decision
on resources is not imminent - additional resources."

Biden spoke to CNN the same day that the United States was announcing it would scrap the controversial missile defense shield in Eastern Europe. He explained the logic of the decision, saying Iran - a key concern for the United States - was not a threat.

"I think we are fully capable and secure dealing with any present or future potential Iranian threat," Biden said. The Iranians "have no potential
at this moment. They have no capacity to launch a missile at the United States of America."

The concern for the United States and its allies with Iran right now is whether they develop and deploy a nuclear capability, because that could set off a destabilizing arms race in the Middle East, Biden said.

The vice president closed the interview by addressing the controversial remark by former President Jimmy Carter, who said he believes racism is an issue for President Barack Obama in trying to lead the country.

Carter's initial comments came after Rep. Joe Wilson interrupted Obama's speech on health care to a joint session of Congress by shouting that the president was lying.

Biden acknowledged it is an "incredibly controversial issue" but said Obama doesn't see it the way Carter does.

"The president does not believe, nor do I believe, it's racially based," Biden said.

Biden is in Iraq to meet with the country's leaders and visit U.S. troops, his office said.

Vice President Joe Biden trumpeted the role of the stimulus package in sparking an economic recovery.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden trumpeted the role of the administration's $787 billion stimulus package Thursday in sparking an economic recovery.

"There is a growing consensus: the recovery act is working," he told an audience at the Brookings Institute.

"Instead of talking about the beginning of a depression, we are talking about the end of a recession."

The stimulus plan, enacted almost 200 days ago, "is doing more faster and more efficiently and more effectively than most people expected," he argued.

The vice president, who is overseeing the implementation of the plan, cited multiple independent analysts who claim the stimulus plan has created or saved between 500,000 and 750,000 jobs.

Economists from Goldman Sachs, he noted, believe the recovery plan added over 2 percentage points in growth to the country's gross domestic product in the second quarter of 2009.

They believe it will add 3.3 points in the third quarter, he added.

The Republican National Committee sharply disputed Biden's claims, releasing a statement characterizing the stimulus plan as a failure.

"The Democrats' rhetoric on their economic experiment doesn't match with the reality of millions of Americans remaining unemployed," the statement said. "The stimulus was an economic experiment that failed."

Most Americans remain pessimistic about the state of the economy. Nearly nine in 10 believe the country is still in a recession, according to an August 28-31 CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll.

Almost 40 percent of Americans believe the Obama administration's policies have improved economic conditions. Thirty-four percent believe Obama's policies have worsened the economic climate, while 27 percent believe they have had no effect.

Altogether, employers have announced over 1,070,000 job cuts so far this year - 60 percent more than at this point a year ago. The current tally is less than 200,000 away from surpassing the total number of job cuts in all of 2008.

The Labor Department's monthly jobs report, due Friday, is expected to show that the economy shed 265,000 jobs in August, slightly more than the 247,000 reported for July, according to a consensus estimate of economists compiled by the Web site Briefing.com.

The unemployment rate is predicted to rise from 9.4 to 9.5 percent.

–CNN's Jessica Dickler contributed to this report

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A new national poll indicates that Americans think Joe Biden's performance as vice president deserves a grade of C.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, released Thursday as the Obama administration approaches 200 days in office, asked respondents to use a grading scale of A, B, C, D, and F, where A is excellent and F is very poor.

Eleven percent of those questioned gave Biden an A, 29 percent a B, 25 percent a C, 13 percent a D and 15 percent an F. The vice president's grade averaged out to a C.

Biden received a grade of C+ in a CNN poll taken as the Obama administration approached 100 days in office.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted July 31-August 3, with 1,136 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

You gave Joe Biden a C- on the CNN National Report Card.

Vice President Biden plays a main role in promoting the Obama administration’s economic agenda. He’s also caused the administration some embarrassment with several high-profile gaffes.

Biden's getting top grades from the man in charge. "He’s doing the job the president wants him to do," said CNN political analyst Paul Begala, who has spoken with administration officials about the VP, who say these aides tell him that "…the president is very happy with Joe Biden."

He may get an A from the president, but you graded the performance of Vice President Biden a C-.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday the United States rejects any desire by Russia to exert its influence over Eastern Europe similarly to the Soviet Union of the past.

Responding to reported comments by Vice President Joe Biden that Russia was "clinging to something in the past that is not sustainable," Clinton told the NBC program "Meet the Press" that the United States wants Russia to play a positive role in international relations.

"We view Russia as a great power," Clinton said. "Every country faces challenges. We have challenges, Russia has challenges."

However, she said, the old ways are over.

"We are very clearly not saying that Russia can have a 21st century sphere of influence in Eastern Europe," Clinton said, calling that a "policy we reject."

Every Eastern European country has the right to join any alliance it wants, she said, referring to Russia's objections to former satellites such as Georgia trying to join NATO.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Biden on Saturday as saying Russia has problems that prevent if from exerting the influence it seeks.

"They have a shrinking population base, they have a withering economy, they have a banking sector and structure that is not likely to be able to withstand the next 15 years, they're in a situation where the world is changing before them and they're clinging to something in the past that is not sustainable," Biden said, according to the report.

Hillary Clinton on Wednesday did not rule out a 2016 presidential run.

(CNN) – It appears that two high ranking members of the Obama administration haven't entirely ruled out seeking the presidency again.

First, Vice President Joe Biden said last month that a third White House bid in 2016 - when he would be 73 - is not something he has completely closed the door on.

"No, I won't. I won't rule that out. No," the vice president said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Now, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who battled President Obama for the 2008 Democratic nomination, told a Thai television station she doesn't know if she will have White House ambitions in the future, though quickly made clear it's not something she has given thought to.

"I don't know, but I doubt very much that anything like that will ever be part of my life," Clinton, who would be 68 in 2016, told the television station, according to the Associated Press.

"I tried to be the president and was not successful," she added.

Vice President Joe Biden will headline a fundraiser Thursday for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The White House is calling out the big guns later this week in the battle to keep two governorships in Democratic hands.

Vice President Joe Biden will headline a fundraiser Thursday in Virginia for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds.

And as previously reported, Barack Obama will be the main attraction Thursday afternoon at a campaign rally for Gov. Jon Corzine of New Jersey. The first term governor trails former federal prosecutor Chris Christie in the most recent polls of New Jersey voters.

While Obama has headlined seven political fundraising events this year, this will be the first campaign rally he's attended for a fellow Democrat since taking over as president in January.

In Virginia, where Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine is term limited and can't run for re-election, Deeds is locked in what surveys suggest is a dead heat with Republican Bob McDonnell, the former state attorney general.

CINCINNATI, Ohio (CNN) – In his first trip to Ohio since the election, Vice President Joe Biden jumped back into campaign mode, setting his sights on Republican critics of the $787 billion stimulus plan.

"All the talk about how we're gonna waste all this money, that's a dog that ain't barked yet," Biden said in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Thursday. "And it's not gonna bark on my watch."

It appeared to be a direct shot at House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, who posted a Web video featuring a bloodhound on the hunt for stimulus jobs.

"This is Ellie Mae, and she hasn't found any stimulus jobs. And neither have we," Boehner says in the video.

But some stimulus money has found its way to Boehner's own district in Butler County, Ohio.

Full story

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden tried to rekindle the suddenly faltering momentum for health care reform Friday, warning a group of small business owners that a failure to act soon would have catastrophic consequences for the private sector.

Biden made his pitch as a senior administration health care official, Nancy-Ann DeParle, huddled with Capitol Hill Democrats struggling to forge a consensus on a bill before the planned August congressional recess.

Health care reform is the "foremost economic and moral issue that this administration is determined to deal with," Biden told the business leaders at a meeting near the White House.

Premiums for employer-provided health insurance, he noted, have doubled in the past nine years - rising three times faster than wages.

As a result, small business owners are "being forced to make some very difficult and ... unnecessary choices," he said. They "are faced with deciding to provide coverage that is increasingly swallowing up more and more of their bottom line, not providing coverage at all, or having to raise the cost of the service or product they're selling, making them uncompetitive."

Biden also argued that the federal government "cannot sustain this trajectory of health care costs ... and think we're ever going to get control of our fiscal house."

The vice president's remarks came one day after a group of fiscally conservative House Democrats, known as "Blue Dogs," effectively put the brakes on health care legislation by pressing the Democratic leadership for significant changes to the draft bill.

As the Democratic leaders worked feverishly to finalize details of the legislation, initially slated for a Friday rollout, the Blue Dog Coalition released a letter late Thursday night saying the bill "lacks a number of elements essential to preserving what works and fixing what is broken."

Forty of the group's 52 members signed the letter, making it clear that a major block of the House Democratic caucus wants some concessions in return for their votes. Shortly after the letter's release, a group of the Blue Dogs met in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office with other leaders for nearly two hours.

Arkansas Democratic Rep. Mike Ross, a leading negotiator for the Blue Dogs on health care, told reporters he, Rep. John Tanner, D-Tennessee, and Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Florida, also met with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday to go over their concerns.

"The message to him was the same as to the leadership - that we could not support the current bill," Ross said.

Boyd told CNN that no deals were struck Thursday night, but the group agreed to meet with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, and Education and Labor Chairman George Miller on Friday. Boyd and other members representing rural areas pushed leaders to adjust the rates that rural doctors and hospitals are paid by Medicare for health care services.

"From a practical standpoint in terms of a timeline, a bill doesn't come into the House chamber until you've got the votes to pass it, and I don't think they have the votes to pass it at this point," Boyd said. "We've got to try to get to point where we're comfortable."

Pelosi earlier Thursday repeated her pledge that a government-run health care plan would be included in the House bill, but Ross said conservative Democrats have major reservations about how a public option would work. In the letter and in the meeting, the conservative Democrats stressed they did not want a "Medicare-like" structure for a public option.

"What we are saying is, if there is a public option it can't be based on Medicare rates unless the regional disparity in Medicare rates is fixed," said Ross, who also plans to press for more controls on government spending on health care and more savings from changes to Medicare.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer waved off any suggestions that the development Thursday night was a setback.

"Let me make it very clear that everybody in that room thinks we ought to pass health care," Hoyer said. But he also acknowledged that they still need to work through the details.

–CNN's Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report

John Boehner on Wednesday called recent comments by Vice President Joe Biden 'the greatest fabrication I've seen since I've been in Congress.'

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The war of words between House Minority Leader John Boehner and the Democratic Party over the impact of President Obama's stimulus plan escalated Wednesday - with each side accusing the other of lying to the American people.

The Ohio Republican told reporters that Vice President Joe Biden's weekend comments that the administration had "misread" the extent of the economic crisis were "the greatest fabrication I've seen since I've been in Congress."

"I found it also interesting over the last couple of days to hear the vice president... and the president mention the fact they didn't realize how difficult an economic circumstance we're in," Boehner said. "Now, this is the greatest fabrication I've seen since I've been in Congress. I sat through those meetings at the White House with the president and the vice president, and trust me, there's not one person that sat in those rooms that didn't know how serious our economic crisis was.

Obama told NBC on Tuesday that "rather than say 'misread,' we had incomplete information."

"What I would say is that in some areas you're seeing the economic engine turn," Obama said in that interview. "But what we always knew was that a.) This recession was going to be deep; b.) It was going to last for a while."

Hours before Boehner's comments to reporters, the Democratic National Committee released a tough new Web video blasting him for critical comments he made over the weekend about the stimulus. Boehner told Fox News that the stimulus hadn't delivered for his state.

"In fact, millions in recovery act funds have been committed to dozens of projects creating jobs for people right here in Ohio," the narrator says in the DNC video. "Fact is, John Boehner supported the Bush economic policies of the past eight years that brought our economy to its knees. Now John Boehner is using baseless attacks to mislead the public about the success of the Recovery Act. John Boehner: from the Party of No, to the Party of No Facts."

Democrats continued the assault Wednesday with e-mails aimed at Boehner's claims. A DNC spokesman on an afternoon conference call accused Boehner of lying and said the House Minority Leader should "apologize" for his comments.

On Thursday, Biden will visit Cincinnati - a trip that comes days after a Quinnipiac poll showed the president's approval ratings dropping dramatically in that key swing state.

Boehner isn't the only GOP congressional leader to come out against the stimulus and face a fierce Democratic response: earlier this week, the DNC went live with a cable buy aimed at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The DNC's also taking shots at much lesser-known GOP targets - candidates in Ohio and another key battleground, Florida, who've criticized the stimulus.

The battle heated up as both parties faced off Wednesday over the proposal at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing. Republicans criticized the White House for referring to the number of "jobs created or saved" by the package, calling the metric impossible to verify.

The White House Office of Management and Budget defended the plan, arguing that every dollar spent had helped to ease the pain of the economic crisis.

Joe Biden announced a deal Wednesday between the government and hospitals on health care reform.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that a deal has been reached with hospitals to help fund health care reform.

Biden said the hospital industry has pledged to contribute $155 billion in Medicare and Medicaid savings in the next decade.

"We're here today to make our health care system healthy again," the vice president said in announcing the agreement.

"Hospitals have acknowledged that significant health care savings can be achieved by improving efficiencies, realigning incentives to emphasize quality care instead of quantity of procedures," Biden said.

"In the last several weeks, they've been working with (Senate Finance Committee) Chairman (Max) Baucus and are coming forward with a proposal that produces real savings in federal health care spending. Savings that will be applied toward the president's firm goal ... of enacting health care reform that is deficit neutral."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Sunday that the president's $787 billion dollar stimulus plan was taking too long to create jobs in the struggling economy.

(CNN) - A leading congressional Democrat and Republican both expressed disappointment Sunday with the pace of the government's economic stimulus program, but offered differing views on whether it was a good idea.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said allocating the $787 billion in the stimulus package pushed by President Barack Obama to create jobs was taking too long.

"We're disappointed," Hoyer, D-Maryland, told "FOX News Sunday." "We're looking at ways to get the money out more quickly."

Hoyer's Republican counterpart, Rep. John Boehner, said on the same program that the stimulus bill passed by Congress in February was flawed.

"You can't spend $800 billion of taxpayer money and not create jobs, when you say that's what the bill was for," Boehner, of Ohio, complained. Boehner said the bill only funds more government, rather than creating private sector jobs.

Democrats, led by Vice President Joe Biden, contend the stimulus money will begin launching more construction projects and other job-creating programs now that necessary mechanisms have been established and contracts signed.

"This was set up to spend out over 18 months," Biden said in an interview with ABC's "This Week" program. "There are going to be major programs that are going to take effect in September - $7.5 billion for broadband, new money for high-speed rail, the implementation of ... the new electric grid. And so this is just starting."

Neither Biden nor Hoyer would comment on whether an additional economic stimulus package is necessary to help pull the U.S. economy out of recession. The latest unemployment figures issued last week showed a 9.5 percent jobless rate, the highest in more than two decades.

Boehner, however, warned against more government spending to heal the economic problems.

"I don't believe it will create jobs," he said, calling instead for reduced taxes to let small business and consumers spend their money as they choose.

Boehner called the scope and speed of Obama's domestic agenda - which so far includes the stimulus package, a health care overhaul now working its way through Congress and an energy bill to combat global warming passed by the House - "nothing short of breathtaking."

The end result, he said, would be "bigger government, higher taxes, less freedom for the American people."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Sunday that the president's $787 billion dollar stimulus plan was taking too long to create jobs in the struggling economy.

(CNN) - A leading congressional Democrat and Republican both expressed disappointment Sunday with the pace of the government's economic stimulus program, but offered differing views on whether it was a good idea.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said allocating the $787 billion in the stimulus package pushed by President Barack Obama to create jobs was taking too long.

"We're disappointed," Hoyer, D-Maryland, told "FOX News Sunday." "We're looking at ways to get the money out more quickly."

Hoyer's Republican counterpart, Rep. John Boehner, said on the same program that the stimulus bill passed by Congress in February was flawed.

"You can't spend $800 billion of taxpayer money and not create jobs, when you say that's what the bill was for," Boehner, of Ohio, complained. Boehner said the bill only funds more government, rather than creating private sector jobs.

Democrats, led by Vice President Joe Biden, contend the stimulus money will begin launching more construction projects and other job-creating programs now that necessary mechanisms have been established and contracts signed.

"This was set up to spend out over 18 months," Biden said in an interview with ABC's "This Week" program. "There are going to be major programs that are going to take effect in September - $7.5 billion for broadband, new money for high-speed rail, the implementation of ... the new electric grid. And so this is just starting."

Neither Biden nor Hoyer would comment on whether an additional economic stimulus package is necessary to help pull the U.S. economy out of recession. The latest unemployment figures issued last week showed a 9.5 percent jobless rate, the highest in more than two decades.

Boehner, however, warned against more government spending to heal the economic problems.

"I don't believe it will create jobs," he said, calling instead for reduced taxes to let small business and consumers spend their money as they choose.

Boehner called the scope and speed of Obama's domestic agenda - which so far includes the stimulus package, a health care overhaul now working its way through Congress and an energy bill to combat global warming passed by the House - "nothing short of breathtaking."

The end result, he said, would be "bigger government, higher taxes, less freedom for the American people."

(CNN) – There are signs that the international policy to isolate North Korea from its traditional allies is working, despite the Pyongyang regime's weekend firing of seven-short range missiles toward the Sea of Japan, Vice President Joe Biden says.

In an interview broadcast Sunday on the ABC program "This Week," Biden called efforts by the United States and others to forge a unified response to North Korea's potential nuclear threat "a significant turning in pressure."

He noted that a North Korean ship believed to be carrying weapons-related materials turned back toward North Korea when tracked by U.S. naval ships as part of U.N. sanctions recently approved by the Security Council.

"No port would take it," Biden said, citing the development as a sign of new international resolve demonstrated by China - the longtime ally and benefactor of North Korea - signing onto the Security Council resolution.

"We have succeeded in uniting the most ... critical countries to North Korea on a common path to isolating" Pyongyang, Biden said.

Continuing such pressure would force North Korea to make "difficult decisions" as it faces the rumored ill health of longtime leader Kim Jong Il, Biden said.

The Security Council sanctions included cutting off new grants, loans and export credits and barring shipments of weapons-related material.

The vice president visited with U.S. troops during his recent visit to Iraq - including with his son, Army Capt. Beau Biden, pictured here with the vice president.

(CNN) - The U.S. government intends to have all its troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011, and it's up to the Iraqis to make that timetable work, Vice President Joe Biden said.

In an interview with ABC News' "This Week" during his trip to Iraq that ended Sunday, Biden said a collapse by Iraq into civil war once U.S. troops depart would be "a tragic outcome."

President Barack Obama remains committed to withdrawing combat troops by the end of August 2010 and all U.S. forces out by the end of 2011, he said.

"That is our intention," Biden said, noting that Iraqi elections scheduled for early 2010 would offer the nation an opportunity for a major step forward.

"It is our expectation that election will come out peacefully," he said.

On another issue, Biden refused to speculate on what the United States would do if Israel decided to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated such a strike could happen if Israel believes international efforts to curtail Iranian nuclear weapons production are failing.

Iran insists its nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful purposes.

Biden said Israel has the right as a sovereign nation to act in its own interests.

"We cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do," he said.

The United States will continue working with allies to engage Iran in talks on halting its nuclear program, Biden said.

Participants in the so-called P5-plus-one talks have invited Iran to take part, he said, and it was up to Iran on whether to join in or remain isolated from the global community.

"There is no pressure from any nation that's going to alter our behavior with how to proceed what we believe is in the national interest of the United States, which we also believe is in the best interest of Israel," Biden said of the proposed talks.

The P5-plus-one includes the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - along with Germany.

Joe Biden says that he's not going to second guess Sarah Palin's decision to resign as governor of Alaska.

(CNN) – Joe Biden said Saturday that he's not going to second guess Sarah Palin's decision to step down as governor of Alaska at the end of the month.

The vice president would not speculate on what led to Palin's move. "I didn’t hear her press conference," Biden told the New York Times. "All I was told was that she said and related to it was a personal decision a family decision and I take her at her word."

"In my experience that’s how 95 percent of decisions by public officials in both parties are made when they’re this important to their careers," Biden said.

Vice President Joe Biden spoke to troops in Baghdad on July 4.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden enjoyed a star-spangled Fourth of July in Baghdad, where he celebrated American patriotism and mocked the ubiquitous ghost of Saddam Hussein.

He presided at a naturalization ceremony, where over 237 U.S. service members were sworn in to become American citizens. The loquacious vice president later playfully swore at the memory of the former Iraqi dictator, toppled by the U.S. military in 2003.

Noting that the naturalization event that took place in the Al-Faw Palace - one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, Biden joked to U.S. troops over the significance of holding such an event at this fallen gaudy symbol of the former dictator's iron-fisted regime.

"We did it in Saddam's palace and I can think of nothing better," he told troops later, after the swearing-in event. "That S.O.B. is rolling over in his grave right now."

Standing in the shadow of a 50-foot American flag, the 237 service members recited the Oath of Allegiance in the rotunda of the palace, part of the Camp Victory complex, and the Pledge of Allegiance.

In what U.S. military officials called the largest naturalization ceremony ever conducted in Iraq, Biden extolled America's "remarkable remarkable diversity" and its destination as a refuge for immigrants, saying newcomers are the "lifeblood" of the country and that "there's always room for more."

"As corny as it sounds, damn I'm proud to be an American," he said. "Thanks for choosing us, you are the reason why America is strong."

Thanking the troops from their military service, Biden told the service members "you are the source of our freedom, you and all who came before you." He also noted their sacrifices - missing "birthdays and birth, first steps and first communions."

"What a sight you are today. What a powerful symbol for the rest of the world you are," he said.

Mentioning America's founding fathers, Biden told the new Americans from across the world that "as of today they're your founding fathers. So get used to it guys, they're your founding fathers."

Visiting Iraq days after U.S. combat troops formally left Iraq's urban centers and handed security duties over to local security forces, Biden said the United States honored that commitment and will make good on others leading to a drawdown of U.S. troops from a country long upended by war.

"Next summer our combat troops will leave Iraq itself and we will be on track to remove all U.S. forces from Iraq at the end of 2011," he said, speaking in the confines of the palace, a contrast to the searingly hot, grindingly dusty and always dangerous Iraqi streets.

A roadside bomb on Saturday underscored Iraq's instability. It exploded in an outdoor market in the Yusifiya area south of Baghdad city, killing a civilian and wounding 15 people.

After Biden's remarks, the soldiers' names were read aloud and they were called to the podium to receive neatly folded American flags, shake the vice president's hand and pose for photographs.

Biden later met with troops from his home state of Delaware, including his son, Beau, and he visited the mess hall where a Fourth of July feast was served.

Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, also lauded the new American troops, saying the Fourth of July in Iraq were the appropriate time and places for a naturalization ceremony.

Invoking the words "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" from the Emma Lazarus "New Colossus" poem inscribed at the Statue of Liberty, Odierno said, "to be honest I'm not so sure that its legendary inscription is applicable to this group here today, because when I look at the men and women sitting out in front of me here, I'm having a hard time because I don't see them in terms of tired, poor or huddled."

He said if he had to write an inscription he would say "give me your best your brightest and your bravest. Give me your warriors, your heroes who will enhance our great nation and strive to keep her free."

Many of the soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen were from places like Mexico, the Philippines, and Haiti. Some were from Iraq.

In a news release about the ceremony, the military quoted Spc. Ammar Al Khalidi, an Iraqi native and interpreter for the 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team.

"It is an honor and a privilege to be invited to a ceremony for citizenship and to receive a letter from President Obama, the first African-American president," Al Khalidi is quoted as saying.

"I'm making history and when I have kids, I plan to show the letter to them with pride."

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad Thursday, where he will underscore Washington's commitment to a drawdown of American forces there, the White House said.

Biden is to meet with Iraqi and U.S. military officials and will also speak with troops. He is expected to deliver a speech to troops on Saturday, the Fourth of July, and may visit another city.

The trip comes a couple of days after U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban centers in the country, and left security duties in cities like Baghdad, Mosul, Basra and other communities to Iraqi security forces.

That move is part of a bilateral U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that calls for all U.S. troops to depart Iraq by the end of 2011.

Among the officials Biden will meet are President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Parliament Speaker Ayad al-Samarrai.

Biden will discuss with Iraq's leaders the importance of achieving the political progress that is necessary to ensure the nation's long-term stability.

It is Biden's second trip to Iraq this year; but his first as vice president.

(updated 1:30 pm ET with additional information)

Vice President Biden addressed his former Senate colleagues at an event Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Joe Biden returned to his old stomping grounds Wednesday wearing three hats: vice president, historian, and comedian.

Biden delivered the keynote address at the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee's Green Jobs Summit.

The vice president needled his former colleagues. "I just want to remind you guys I hope you remember me. I used to work here. So easily how they forget," he said.

Biden served in the Senate for 36 years before being elected vice president.

The summit was held in the caucus room of the Russell Senate office building, which inspired Biden to discuss the room's history.

"It's good to be home in this room. This is - business folks and labor leaders probably know - but this is one of the most historic rooms in the United States Senate," said Biden.

"John Kennedy announced his run for the presidency here. This was the room in which the Bork hearing took place. And this is the room in which the Clarence Thomas hearing took place. Over which I presided on both of them and I am so glad to be here not talking about the Supreme Court. Umm... laugh a little bit, guys. Come on - you're a stiff audience here, man."

–CNN's Virginia Nicolaidis contributed to this report.

Vice President Biden said Sunday that the Obama administration opposes taxing employer-provided health care benefits but would not say the president would reject legislation that included such a new tax.

(CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that the Obama administration opposes taxing the medical benefits employers provide workers to pay for health care reform, but he refused to rule it out entirely.

"We do not think that is the way to go; we think that is the wrong way to finance this legislation," Biden said on NBC's "Meet the Press" program. Pressed on whether President Barack Obama would veto a bill from Congress containing such a mechanism, Biden said Obama would consider the measure in total before making a decision.

Obama has outlined a series of steps to lower current costs and raise taxes to pay for an overhaul of the health care system, including creation of a government-funded "public" option for the nation's 46 million uninsured. He will speak Monday to the American Medical Association, which questions how a public option can work.

On Saturday, the president proposed $313 billion in cuts and new savings over the next decade, with some of the funds coming from expected increases in efficiency, reductions in excessive hospital payments and drug cost savings from individuals enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid.

Biden noted that the administration also seeks to raise $300 billion in taxes by limiting the deductions of high-income Americans.

Republican leaders join Obama and Democrats in calling for health care reform, but oppose a public option as a potential boondoggle that would be unfair to private insurers.

"If the government is in the insurance business, there won't be any other insurers Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told the CBS program "Face the Nation."

"It's inevitable because the taxpayers will be backing up the program."

McConnell said "virtually every Republican" would oppose a government-funded public option, which Obama supports to provide coverage for those currently uninsured and to stimulate competition with private insurers to lower costs.

Possible alternatives to a public option include private cooperatives, like electricity cooperatives, owned and paid for by communities that would compete with existing insurance programs.

Supporters say such a program would require initial government support, but eventually would provide the kind of competition Obama seeks without creating a new government bureaucracy.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that Obama was open to whatever ideas will work to address a problem that must be addressed.

"The costs are crushing us," Sebelius said. "It's hurting families. Our businesses are less competitive. We can't continue on this pathway."

Like Biden, she warned against a possible tax on medical benefits, saying it would affect privately owned plans that currently cover 180 million Americans.

"There is still a great deal of disagreement on whether or not taxing benefits at any level of any kind really does put us a step forward or take us a step back," Sebelius said.

Updated: 5:10 p.m.

Vice President Biden said Sunday that President Obama has kept up his end of the bargain the two men made about working together in the White House.

(CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that President Barack Obama consults him on all major issues as promised, and that the job is what he hoped it would be.

"There's not a single decision made that he hasn't asked me my view," Biden said on NBC's "Meet the Press" program.

Biden has said he accepted the chance to be vice president on condition that he would be an important consultant and confidante to Obama.

"He's kept his end of the bargain," Biden said of Obama, describing himself as "one of the last people who has the opportunity to make my case to him."

"I think he respects my opinion," the vice president said.

Biden cited a tangible benefit of his role, saying: "I used to react to nominees to the Supreme Court; now I got to help select a Supreme Court nominee," in reference to Obama's nomination of U.S. Appellate Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the high court.

(CNN) – The United States will enforce the latest U.N. Security Council resolution on North Korea, which calls for stopping arms shipments if necessary, Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday.

"We're going to enforce the U.N. resolution," Biden said on NBC's "Meet the Press" program. "This is a matter of us now keeping the pressure on."

The resolution, passed by a 15-0 vote, expands and tightens sanctions on North Korea after the nation's recent nuclear test, firing of test rockets and threats to U.S. and South Korean ships near its territorial waters.

North Korea has said that any interdiction of its ships would be an act of war, the latest threat from a regime known for inflammatory rhetoric.

Biden said the resolution represented joint action by the Security Council members "like never before," noting that longtime North Korean ally China signed on. He called possible North Korean use or spread of nuclear weapons "a serious threat to the world, and particularly in East Asia."

Vice President Joe Biden weighed in Sunday on the election results in Iran.

(CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden expressed doubts Sunday about the validity of Iran's presidential election, but said it will take more time to analyze the results.

"I have doubts, but withhold comment," Biden said on NBC's "Meet the Press" program.

The Iranian government announced that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won Friday's election with 62.63 percent of the vote. The result sparked protests by supporters of his main rival, Mir Hossein Moussavi, who claim the vote was rigged.

Biden said the Iranian government has suppressed crowds and limited free speech by shutting down social networking sites such as Facebook, which he said raised questions. He also called the strong showing by Ahmadinejad "unlikely," based on pre-election analysis.

"Is this the response, is this the accurate response, is this the wish of the Iranian people?" Biden said.

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Vice President Joe Biden calls Friday's unemployment report 'tough.'

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden calls Friday's unemployment report "tough" - but says there are also "some signs of hope today."

Friday's numbers released by the Labor Department show the nation's unemployment rate rising to 9.4 percent in May, the highest level in 25 years. But the report also finds that employers cut 345,000 jobs from their payrolls last month, down from the revised 504,000 job decline in April.

The total is the fewest jobs lost in a month since last September. It's also lower than originally-predicted loss of more than half a million jobs in May.

Regardless of the drop in jobs lost, Biden says the report "doesn't satisfy me, it doesn't satisfy the president."

The vice president made his comments during a meeting with Council of Economic Advisors Chair Christina Romer and his chief economist Jared Bernstein.

"'Less bad' is not how we're going to measure success," added Biden. "We will not be satisfied until we are adding jobs on a monthly basis."

The vice president also praised the Recovery Act, known as the stimulus, which was implemented earlier this year. Biden says "there's new economic activity and job creation," and added that the new jobs report shows "some signs" that the stimulus is working.

(CNN) - Joe Biden couldn't help but take a dig at his boss Wednesday when one of the vice president's teleprompter screens fell down during his commencement speech at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

"What am I gonna tell the president?" Biden said as a gust of wind knocked down his left teleprompter. "I'm gonna tell him his teleprompter is broken. What will he do then?"

The off-handed quip immediately drew laughter and some the loudest cheers of day from the graduates.

Obama has long been criticized from Republicans for at times appearing over reliant on a teleprompter, even during short and informal speeches. During the White House Correspondents Association dinner earlier this month, the president himself poked fun at his penchant for using a teleprompter.

"You know I had an entire speech prepared for this wonderful occasion, but now that I am here, I am going to try something a little different - I am going to speak from the heart," Obama said jokingly as his teleprompter rose from the floor.